The 44th Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA) ceremony was held yesterday night at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, with 18 prizes being presented across a range of categories.
Ciao UFO bagged the coveted Best Film award, along with four other awards, including Best Director for Patrick Leung Pak-kin, Best Screenplay for Kong Ho-yan and Amy Chin, Best Supporting Actress for Michelle Wai and Best Original Film Song for Wah Fu One.
Starring Charlene Choi, Chui Tien-you and Wong You-Nam, Ciao UFO tells the story of three friends whose adult lives are shaped by a childhood encounter with a UFO while living in the Wah Fu public housing estate during the 1980s.
Other winners included Tony Leung Ka-fai, who clinched Best Actor for his villainous turn in the Jackie Chan vehicle, The Shadow’s Edge. The 68-year old was visibly moved by the win, telling the audience that the 2026 ceremony overlapped with his 44th year in the film industry.
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Leung’s win also makes him the only actor to have collected an HKFA across five consecutive decades, and puts him just one award behind the all-time HKFA Best Actor record holder, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai.
Meanwhile, the Best Actress award went to Malaysia’s Fish Liew Chi-yu for her role as a young woman suffering from cerebral palsy in Someone Like Me. As a first time winner of a HKFA for a leading role, the teary-eyed 36-year old dedicated her prize to her parents, thanking them for believing in her and never doubting her decision.
The crime thriller, Sons of the Neon Night, managed to rack up the most number of awards, winning eight prizes out of 12 nominations.
Hong Kong singer Alex To earned the Best Supporting Actor award for his role in the film, which dominated technical categories such as Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Art Direction and Best Costume and Makeup Design.
The award for Best New Performer was handed to Elizabeth Tang, who starred in Girlfriends, a lesbian drama directed by Macao filmmaker Tracey Choi. Shu Qi, a Hong Kong-Taiwanese actress who made her directorial debut with Girl, also took home the Best New Director award.
During the ceremony, John Chu Ka-yan, a film professional who helped to bring contemporary visual effects to the Hong Kong film industry, was recognised with a lifetime achievement award. Similarly, You Man-kei was awarded a Professional Achievement prize for her work as an assistant director over the decades.
This year’s HKFA was not without controversy, as three Hong Kong films were noticeably absent from the competition despite meeting the requirements for automatic qualification. They included Valley of the Shadow of Death, as well as Finch & Midland, which both star Anthony Wong, a local actor known for being politically outspoken.
The other was the Hong Kong government-funded film Vital Signs, which stars Neo Yau, a performer who was one of the founders of a YouTube channel featuring satirical content.
Some analysts have also pointed to this year’s ceremony as a reflection of the weak state of Hong Kong cinema, as some of the key films nominated, including Ciao UFO, Sons of the Neon Night and Back to the Past, had been filmed prior to Covid, but were shelved until 2025.
